Long before his selection as the fifteenth sergeant major of the Army, Dan Dailey served multiple combat deployments in Iraq, first during Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s and then in Operation Iraqi Freedom more than a decade later. In this episode of The Spear, he joins MWI's Charlie Faint to reflect on those deployments—describing in particular one deployment's operations in Baghdad's Sadr City, where he receiving the Bronze Star Medal for valor. He also discusses lessons he learned over a career that began when he signed his enlistment paperwork as a sixteen-year-old and culminated in his service as the most senior enlisted soldier in the Army. And he shares his thoughts, refined after working alongside officers at every rank, from platoon leaders to the chief of staff of the Army, on the vital relationship between officers and noncommissioned officers.
In 2006, Lt. Col. James Enos was a company commander deployed in Ramadi, Iraq. One day, his company's company's foot patrol turned quickly into...
For Bill “Fenway” Wyman, Sadr City in 2004 was a strange mix of combat and humanitarian missions. Fenway, then an Army major, was servince...
In 2009, Sgt. 1st Class Sean Ambriz was on his first deployment in Afghanistan. When a platoon became pinned down by enemy fire, he...